AP Exam Fees

In the spirit of “Back to School Month” I was pondering what many students wonder this time of the year: are the classes I’m taking worth my money? Although this mostly applies to college students, it can also apply to Advanced Placement® students. For example, are AP® classes worth the monetary investment in comparison to college coursework. Now, that’s not to say the only reason for taking AP classes is to skip out on college classes, but just go with me here.

For this example, I’m going to use the most popularly taken AP course, “English Language and Composition.” Also, due to the fact that I, at Omninox Publishing, am sitting in an office space subsidized by The University of Florida, I’ll use their credit conversions and price per credit hour.

So let’s say that you take the English Language and Composition AP exam. Without any reductions you’ll pay somewhere around $91 in the U.S. In the case of that particular exam, you’ll get 3 credit hours from the University if you score a 3 or above. Now, you may be wondering: Was it worth that $91? Well, if we take the average “Tuition and Fees” for undergraduates and divide it by the recommended number of hours (30). Then, we’ll get somewhere in the neighborhood of $210 per credit hour to take the class at UF. That adds up to $630 just in “Tuition and Fees.”

That cost per credit hour doesn’t even include the books or other materials you’d use to study for the exam. So, in this case, it was well worth the investment of $91 to take a class that would cost you upwards of $630.

But how does this translate, roughly, over the course of your high school career? For argument’s sake, I’ll assume you were super studious during high school and you pass the four AP classes we make with a “3” or better:

Physics B: You'll most likely get 5 credit hours for passing this AP exam. Assuming UF's fee of $210 per credit hour, you have a total cost of $1050. Subtracting the cost of the AP exam ($91), you end up saving $959!

Statistics: You'll most likely get 3 credit hours for passing this AP exam. Assuming UF's fee of $210 per credit hour, you have a total cost of $630. Subtracting the cost of the AP exam ($91), you end up saving $539!

Calc BC: You'll most likely get 4 credit hours for passing this AP exam. Assuming UF's fee of $210 per credit hour, you have a total cost of $840. Subtracting the cost of the AP exam ($91), you end up saving $749!

Calc AB: You'll most likely get 4 credit hours for passing this AP exam. Assuming UF's fee of $210 per credit hour, you have a total cost of $840. Subtracting the cost of the AP exam ($91), you end up saving $749!

Above, you’ll see that if you took these classes as AP exams, you’d save yourself around $2992! Wow. I’m not sure if money motivates you, but with the rising interest rates of student loans and debt, this might make me study more for my AP classes. At least until the next season of House of Cards is released…